1. A Waterborne Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Infections and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome: Implications for Rural Water Systems1
- Author
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Olsen, Sonja J., Miller, Gayle, Breuer, Thomas, Kennedy, Malinda, Higgins, Charles, Walford, Jim, McKee, Gary, Fox, Kim, Bibb, William, and Mead, Paul
- Subjects
Adult ,Diarrhea ,Male ,Rural Population ,Wyoming ,Research ,drinking water ,Drinking ,Infant ,waterborne transmission ,Escherichia coli O157:H7 ,Escherichia coli O157 ,Disease Outbreaks ,Cohort Studies ,Risk Factors ,Water Supply ,antibody ,Child, Preschool ,Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome ,Humans ,epidemiology ,Female ,Water Microbiology ,Escherichia coli Infections ,Retrospective Studies - Abstract
In the summer of 1998, a large outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections occurred in Alpine, Wyoming. We identified 157 ill persons; stool from 71 (45%) yielded E. coli O157:H7. In two cohort studies, illness was significantly associated with drinking municipal water (town residents: adjusted odds ratio=10.1, 95% confidence intervals [CI]=1.8-56.4; visitors attending family reunion: relative risk=9.0, 95% CI=1.3-63.3). The unchlorinated water supply had microbiologic evidence of fecal organisms and the potential for chronic contamination with surface water. Among persons exposed to water, the attack rate was significantly lower in town residents than in visitors (23% vs. 50%, p
- Published
- 2002